 The
Magnetic Properties of Technology…
and
the Impact on our Kids
Your Child’s Health
Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, MD, FAAP
2006, #5
The selective hearing of children always amazes me, especially when technology is involved. Recently I had to use technology to get my tween off technology and back to the interactive world of her family. It was at that moment I realized there was a huge disturbance forming in the force.
My oldest daughter was on her computer IM’ing with friends – from a parent-approved IM list. After multiple calls of her name went unanswered, I went to the door of her room and called her name again. There she was at her computer. Her fingers clicking away. Her eyes glued on the screen. And a little “ping” echoing in the room with no awareness that another human was ten feet away. Before I exploded with frustration, a sudden Aha! occurred. I ran to my computer, hit the IM button and typed “Hello…cute girl on the computer, you are cordially invited to the kitchen for a snack.” To her credit, she laughed and came down stairs with me.
It is truly staggering how much technology we use in a day – and how paralyzed we become when power goes out or batteries suddenly die! You only have to ask yourself a few simple questions to help you decide if technology is taking over your life at the expense of your family. For example, do you know what your kids are doing while you are online or on the phone? What are you doing while your kids are listening to their iPods or playing GameCubes? Do you find yourself talking on the phone while driving or entering a store? Are your kids with you during those times?
While waiting to make a turn yesterday I counted 8 of 10 drivers on the phone at a busy intersection in Wayland. Waiting in line at Starbucks the same day, 3 people were sitting at tables on their phones and 2 walked in talking on the phone, and only pausing to order. Later in the day, a mother was walking around Sudbury Farms talking on the phone with her 2 small children in the shopping cart. And, this is just the grownups…I could go on for pages about the many cellphone and MP3 uses in tweens and teens I saw that afternoon as they walked passed my house to go home from school.
There is no doubt technology is magnetic - we are all drawn to it. But, all magnets repel and it’s our human connections that are taking that hit. So, the time has come for us to take back our human lives and pull the plug on our high-tech features just a bit more each day.
So, as you begin your spring cleaning this year, put technology streamlining on the list. Not sure where to begin? Here are some ideas:
- Avoid using the phone in public unless it is a true emergency, and even then find a private place to talk to not disturb others around you.
- Practice safe phone and MP3 listening practices: avoid wearing ear phones when driving, biking, walking on the street. And, please don’t talk while driving.
- Try only to answer the phone when you are with your kids for emergencies – that’s the great thing about voice mail!
- Ask yourself, what role model do I want to be for my kids? Do I want them to remember me always on the phone or clicking away?
- Keep a log of when you use technology, TV, phone, computer, IM, MP3, and see if there are ways to use it less.
- Give your kids permission to bug you if you are using too much technology, but they need to know you will bug them back if they use it to extremes.
- Try to find at least one low-tech way for your family to connect each week.
Multiple studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between increased screen time and very significant health and safety issues: social isolation, poor relationships with family and friends, childhood obesity, and exploitation. There is also a growing concern about the impact of commercialism and advertising on our children’s growing minds.
The current recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics is to limit screen time to 1-2 hours a day, for all screens: TV and DVD/video watching, computer use, phone use, video games, MP3 players. Here are some resources for more information:
Time to go email my family an E-vite for family game night on Friday. How ironic that I’m using technology to talk about technology – and to get my family all in the same room! Just goes to show that biting the apple of technology can bring about good things – assuming the apple is ripe.
© 2006 Pediatrics Now. All rights reserved. PEDIATRICS NOW is a trademark of Pediatrics Now
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